The Water Resources Department, a wing of Public Works Department, on Saturday began work to desilt major water channels in the city and southern suburbs. PWD Secretary M. Saikumar inspected various works, including on Okkiyam Maduvu, in Karapakkam.
Officials of WRD said waterways that are not being improved under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Rural Mission (JNNURM) would be desilted at a cost of Rs.3.61 crore as part of monsoon preparedness work.
As the improvement works at Central Buckingham Canal, under the JNNURM, could not be taken up until issues pertaining to resettlement of those living along the banks are settled, the WRD would clean stretches of the 7,100-metre-long canal, including at Chepauk, Dr.Radhakrishnan Salai and Adyar, officials said.
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An important component of the desilting work is removing weeds and dense outgrowth of vegetation on Okkiyam Maduvu. The maduvu is 2.8 km long and drains surplus water from Pallikaranai marsh into the south Buckingham Canal.
Besides desilting major channels around Velachery, Keelkattalai and Pallikaranai marshland, the department would be taking up new works at Tambaram, Ottiyambakkam and Adambakkam.
Officials said major desilting works were taken up on Veerangal Odai under the JNNURM. The Veerangal Odai is a 9-km water channel of which about 4 km came under PWD's maintenance.
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The department would be taking up desilting works on surplus channels of Velachery lake. Other works would include desilting of water channels that drain surplus water from Sembakkam, Nanmangalam, Narayanapuram and Keelkattalai lakes.
They would also be clearing obstructions underneath culverts constructed by Highways Department on Velachery Main Road and Pallavaram – Thoraipakkam Radial Road.
Other works would include cleaning up of ‘paappaan channel' – that drained rainwater run off from West Tambaram and Perungalathur areas into the Adyar River near Tiruneermalai. The works are expected to be completed by this month-end.
Work would be taken up to remove garbage from the Cooum River over a stretch of 2,200 metre using floating equipment at a cost of Rs.80 lakh. Materials such as sand bags would be placed at vulnerable points of the Adyar River. The department has divided the work into 57 packages to facilitate simultaneous cleaning of the various canals.